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No sign of Israel in ancient Canaan

“Take Egypt out and the whole structure of the Israelites’ tale would instantly fall apart.”

Dr. Ashraf Ezzat

Did you know that Egypt is mentioned in the Holy Bible approximately 700 times (Egypt: 595 times, Egyptian(s): 120 times).

Obviously, Egypt must have played a vital role in the history of the Hebrews otherwise it wouldn’t have been such a recurring theme in the Jewish holy book.

Egypt was, and still is, the magnificent overture/prelude to the Israelites’ story. Take Egypt out and the whole structure of the Israelites’ tale would instantly come crumbling down.

We have long been told of the Israelites’ long enslavement and of their breath-taking and logic-defying Exodus from the land of the Nile, where in fact none of that ever took place on Egyptian soil. Ancient Egypt has been made the land of the Israelites’ stories by design or by deception if you like.

But on the other hand, do you know how many times Israel or the Israelites were mentioned in the ancient Egyptian records? … Well, and according to history and the ancient Egyptian meticulous records – get ready for the surprise– once or … maybe none at all.

Now and before I take you on a little journey back in time, around 3000 years ago, I want you to contemplate on this paradoxical ratio 1:700, and try to answer this simple question; what if there was someone who, you were told, talked of you hundreds and hundreds of times, citing places and stories he said had shared with you, only you don’t know who he is or what the hell he is talking about … what do you call that person? … A liar! A deluded person! … or maybe someone who is trying to steal your thunder.

If that is your answer, then we’re having a common ground for my following argument. If not, then, hop on my time machine and let’s visit the ancient Egyptian empire at its zenith.

Once mentioned but its (real) whereabouts is the question

King Merneptah Stele – 1208 BC

The only time Israel was mentioned in the ancient Egyptian texts, the most meticulous and coherent of the world’s ancient civilizations and which covered the chronicles of nearly 3000 years, was in King Merneptah Stele. The black granite slab engraved with a description of the victories of king Merneptah– son of the great Ramses II- in a military campaign against the Meshwesh Libyans and their Sea People allies, but its final two lines, line 26 & 27, refer to a prior military campaign in Canaan (mistaken by orthodox historians for Palestine) in the Near East.

The stele which dates to about 1208 BC was discovered by renowned British archaeologist Flinders Petrie at Thebes in 1896.

The Inscription contains a hymn and a list of the Pharaoh’s military victories. A tribe, whom Merenptah had victoriously smitten”I.si.ri.ar?”Or as Petrie quickly suggested that it read: “Israel!” is on the list of conquests. The mention of Israel is very short; it simply says, “Israel is laid waste, its seed is no more.”

This was the first extra-biblical Egyptian source to mention the tribe of Israel and the last one for that matter.

Yes, maybe the tribe, not the kingdom, of Israel had been mentioned in King Merneptah Stele, but it was ascertained to be completely devastated and existed no more. One more thing the stele did not say much about the exact location of that ‘I.si.ri.ar’ tribe (which according to our research/book is to be found in south ancient Arabia and North Yemen)

Interestingly enough, the Israelites were depicted (with distinctive hieroglyphs) in the Egyptian stele as Bedouins/nomads who were always on the move and who never settled in one place/city- contrary to the Israelite story of invasion and settlementthey have been raving about during long centuries of silent Egyptian records. The ancient Egyptian writing, Hieroglyphs, has been deciphered in 1822 by Jean Francois Champollion

Israel in hieroglyphs ( in Merneptah Stele )

While the other defeated Egyptian enemies listed besides Israel in Merneptah stele such as Ashkelon, Gezer and Yanoam( cities to be inhabited later by pelset/palestinians )were given the determinative for a city-state—”a throw stick plus three mountains designating a foreign country”—the hieroglyphs that refer to Israel instead employ the determinative sign used for foreign peoples: a throw stick plus a man and a woman over three vertical plural lines. This sign is typically used by the Egyptians to signify nomadic tribes without a fixed city-state, thus implying that ysrỉꜣr “Israel” was the demonym for a seminomadic population who were always on the move at the time the stele was created.

And since some of the cities mentioned in the ancient stele were phonetically similar to ones already located in Palestine, scholars were quick to jump to the (wrong) conclusion that ancient ‘Israel’ must have also been located in ancient Palestine (a totally erroneous conclusion we have completely exposed its fallacy in our recent book)

Despite the scarcity of archeological finds that corroborate the veracity of the Hebrew bible’s narrative, modern archeologists don’t deny the Israelites existed; rather they believe their stories happened quite differently. In my book we take a step further and prove that the all Israelite stories took place in ancient Arabia and North Yemen (the homeland of Judaism) and not in Palestine as millions (of gullible laymen) over hundreds of years have been made to believe.

Since the outcome of relentless excavations of (so called) Canaan/Palestine by Israeli and western archeologists from the beginning of the twentieth century only widened the gap between the historical truth as academics know it and the tales of the Hebrew bible, I thought maybe we could look for the missing part somewhere else. Since more consistent and reliable documentation is needed, we should therefore try and look for the truth in Egypt.

Egyptian hegemony over the Levant (alleged Canaan)

Relief depicting King Ramses II smiting his enemies

The Bible chronology ironically places the exodus at around 1200BC, in the same time period king Merneptah and his father Ramsses II ruled over Egypt, whose documented legacy is totally unfamiliar with this Hebrew tale of “Great Escape” from the Nile valley.

On the contrary, king Merneptah leaves behind no tales of bewitched snakes or parting sea but only his famous stele which bears witness to the devastation of the Hebrew tribe.

Egypt had a unique geographical location and landscape. The land of Egypt enjoyed many natural barriers; there were deserts to the east and west of the Nile River, and mountains to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the north. This unique geography had (sort of) protected the ancient Egyptians and allowed them to develop the longest (almost uninterrupted 3000 years) enduring civilization in antiquity.

During the New kingdom (1550 – 1077 BC) Egypt controlled a great chunk of the Levant in order to secure trade routes and relations with eastern powers.

So the territory known today as Palestine/Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and South Syria was practically under Egyptian sovereignty with fortified military garrisons and castles all over the place. Hence the hilarious part of the exodus tale is exposed; for you don’t exit the US by fleeing New York and heading for Massachusetts. Sinai and the Levant was very much Egyptian territory at the (purported) time of the Exodus. By the way the land occupied by nowadays Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan has never been known/referred to in ancient history as ‘Canaan’ (as explained in my book)

The chieftains of the Levant’s tribal communities and leaders of the small cities had to pledge loyalty to the mighty king of Egypt. In return they would be granted his majesty’s protection and support in times of hardships. (Have you ever heard of Egyptian presence in the Levant -mistaken for Canaan by orientalists- in the narrative of the Hebrew bible; I don’t think so)

An example to the Egyptian hegemony over the Levant / Canaan, particularly during the new kingdom (1570 – 1070 BC), is the valley of Meggido.

Megiddo is the biblical city of Armageddon that stands above the plain where, at the end of the world, the final/ mythological battle between the armies of the Lord and the kings of the earth will be fought out, as the Book of Revelations tells (Revelations 16:16).

According to the documented/orthodox history Meggido was the place that witnessed one of the greatest battles in the Egyptian empire. According to our investigation there was also another Meggido. It was one of those obscure tribal towns located along the ancient Incense trade route that had cut across Western Arabian coast.

And to get a clearer picture of how the so called biblical cities depended entirely on Egyptian protection and support and how it was essential for their chieftains/leaders to show their unflinching loyalty to the Egyptian monarchy; Here is one of the famous Amarna letters, discovered in 1887, in which Biridiya, the chieftain of Meggido is practically groveling for the help of king Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten, 1350-1334 BC).

Notice that Biridiya is addressing the king of Egypt as “my lord, my god and sun” and not as “Pharaoh”- another Biblical myth the writer of this essay consistently refutes.

“To the king, my Lord and my God and Sun, thus speaks Biridiya, the loyal servant of the king: At the feet of the king, my Lord and my God and Sun, seven times and seven times I prostrate myself. May the king know that since the archers have gone back, Labayu [chieftain of Shechem/ biblical town of Jacob and where Joseph is allegedly buried] carries out acts of hostility against me, and that we cannot shear the wool and that we cannot pass through the gate in the presence of Labayu, since he knows that you have not given (me) archers; and now he intends to take Meggido, but the king will protect his city so that Labayu does not seize her. In truth, the city is destroyed by death as a result of pestilence and disease. Grant me one hundred garrison troops to guard the city, lest Labayu take it. Certainly, Labayu has no another intentions. He tries to destroy Meggido.”

So the biblical city of Meggido was so small and feeble that a militia of 100 men was enough a force to defend it against a takeover by another tribe. That happened during a time, characterized by population expansion and referred to in the Israelite history as the Settlement in Canaan (Judges Period). However, that contradiction is strongly suggesting that the ‘Hebrew Bible’ must have been talking about another ‘Canaan’

Geopolitics and landscape of ancient Canaan

Canaan on the map

Actually the Hebrew Bible sketched such a misleading landscape for the land of Canaan; it is depicted as an attraction site for different peoples that even the God of the Israelites, who obviously suffered from geographical illiteracy, eyed it as his Promised land.

Canaan’s miscellaneous landscape, framed by sea and desert, by Egypt and Anatolia, part bad lands, part green plains, never lent itself to the notion of nationhood. In the mountains it was hard enough to survive, let alone indulge in the luxury of court politics. And in the plains, the cities of central and southern Canaan were all on the ancient highways, on the roads to somewhere else, between Egypt and the Hittites and Mesopotamia. As we said earlier, and according to our investigation, Canaan in the Bible was to be found in ancient Arabia and near North Yemen.

Moreover, the Biblical description is obviously unfamiliar with the geopolitical reality in Palestine. Palestine was under Egyptian rule until the beginning of the first millennia BC. The Egyptians’ administrative centers were located in Gaza, Yaffo and Beit She’an. Egyptian presence has also been discovered in many locations on both sides of the Jordan River.

This striking Egyptian presence in the land is not mentioned in the Biblical account, and it is also clear that it was unknown to the Hebrew scribes at the time.

Moreover, the archaeological findings blatantly contradict the Biblical picture: the Canaanite cities were not ‘great,’ were not fortified and did not have sky-high walls – as in the notorious story of the walls of Jericho. The heroism of the conquerors, the few versus the many and the assistance of the God who fought for his people is but a theological reconstruction lacking any factual basis.

Though Merneptah stele was the only Egyptian reference to mention Israel, but it wasn’t the only reference on military campaigns in Palestine/Canaan. Other Egyptian kings from the new kingdom(1550 – 1069 BC) have left us valuable inscriptions (on stele and temple walls) that documented many of their battles in Canaan as did king Ramses II in his famous battle with the Hittites in Kadesh (1274 BC) Though the documents of the battle, one of the earliest in history, made references to the major Canaanite/Levantine cities at the time, none of the Biblical towns as frequently cited in the Hebrew’s holy book, were ever mentioned in the Kadesh chronicles.

The sea peoples’ invasion of Canaan

In Year 8 of the reign of king Ramsses III, the Sea Peoples, most arguably from the Aegean & the Ionian islands, dared to wage an unprecedented offensive war against Egypt by land and sea. King Ramsses III defeated them in two victorious land and sea battle (1178 BC)

This battle has been described as ‘the first naval battle in history’. The details of the combat are meticulously recorded on the walls of the mortuary temple of king Ramesses III at Thebes/Medinet Habu– one of the largest and best-preserved temples in Egypt.

Although he had defeated the Sea Peoples, king Ramsses III could not ultimately prevent some of them (specifically the Peleset/philistines) from eventually settling in Canaan and Palestine some time after his death

At Medinet Habu Ramses III displayed the names (with their stylized images) of seven of his defeated enemies who constituted the belligerent coalition of the sea peoples along with the then major political players in Canaan, who were either defeated or tempted to join the sea people’s incursion on Egyptian borders:

The names on the inscription were:

(Hittites) The wretched chief of Kheta as living captive. (Amorites) The wretched chief of Amor. (Tjekker) Chieftain (lit. the Great One) of the foe of Thekel (TAkwrA). (Sherden) Sherden (SArAdAnA) of the sea. (Bedouins) Chieftain of the foe of Sha[su] (SA ///). (Teresh) Teresh (tjwrASA) of the sea. (Philistines) Chieftain of the Pe[leset] (pw //////).

The Bible portrayed the Philistines – one of the identified seven factions of the belligerent coalition against Ramsses III – as the main enemy of the Israelites. We were told of an old war between the two peoples, that was often embroidered with mythical tales of heroism (David vs. goliath)

Since the battle of king Ramsses III took place at a time leading up, according to the Israelite chronology, to the United Monarchy(1030-931 BC) one would anticipate, if Ramsses III’s infantry units were forced into combat with all the major players in Canaan including the Hittites, Amorites and the Philistines, to find Israel/Israelites amongst them.

But again, that was not the case. The well preserved records of Ramsses III’s battle in Palestine/Canaan insist but to exclude the Israelites out of the historical/geopolitical scene of the region and paradoxically few years prior to the establishment of David & Solomon alleged kingdom. The Biblical stories must have happened somewhere else, and indeed that was the case.

While we could easily distinguish the philistines among the engraved inscriptions on the walls of Medinet Habu, the Israelites are nowhere to be found in the Egyptian records.

And no we can’t consider the Bedouins as the Israelites, for Egypt 30 years earlier had specifically designated them as “Israel” and not Bedouins. So let’s not waste time over that unacceptable hypothesis. Instead let’s focus on this dilemma; in Merneptah’s Stele we find Israel in Canaan and only thirty years later the Egyptian chronicles of a wartime in Canaan doesn’t mention Israel.

Now, the obvious question is where in the archaeological records are the Israelites that King Merneptah fought?

Ze’ev Herzog

However, Prof. Ze’ev Herzog of the Archaeology Faculty at the University of Tel Aviv, asserts that there is no evidence in the archaeological record that Israel was ever a powerful force, whether at the time of the Merneptah stele or at any other point in antiquity.

The conditions in ancient Palestine were inhospitable for urban settlement or the development of any kingdom for that matter, and certainly no showcase projects such as the Egyptian shrines/temples or the Mesopotamian palaces could have been established there.

The Egyptian documents make no mention of the Israelites’ presence in Egypt and are also silent about the events of the Exodus. Nevertheless, the documents do mention the custom of nomadic shepherds to enter Egypt during periods of drought and hunger and to camp at the edges of the Nile Delta. However, this was not a solitary phenomenon: such events occurred frequently over thousands of years and were hardly exceptional.

In his article “Deconstructing the Walls of Jericho“, appearing in Ha’aretz (29 October 1999), Ze’ev Herzog, an Israeli archeologist with over 30 years’ experience in excavating the whole land of modern day Israel (alleged ancient Canaan) shocked the world, not only the Zionist state of Israel, with his evidence-based findings;

“Following 70 years of intensive excavations in the Land of Israel, archaeologists have found out: The patriarchs’ acts are legendary stories, we did not sojourn in Egypt or make an exodus, and we did not conquer the land. Neither is there any mention of the empire of David and Solomon. Those who take an interest have known these facts for years, but Israel is a stubborn people and doesn’t want to hear about it.”

Having clarified that chapter of the history of ancient Egypt in the late Bronze Age during which it practically controlled all of Canaan and practically most of the Levant I think it is becoming less of a puzzle for us why Egypt hardly mentioned or referred to Israel in its records whereas the Israelites were raving about Egypt all the time. The answer, that will definitely shock many, is because the real land which witnessed the Israelite’s stories was never in ancient Palestine or Egypt. Egypt was never the land of the Israelites’ Exodus nor Palestine their Promised Land.

Isn’t ”I.si.ri.ar” just phonetic sounds arbitrarily assigned to Egyptian symbols? Is there any evidence that the Egyptians pronounced them like this (or that the supposed proto-Israelites pronounced their name like “Israel”).

Too bad that Ancient Canaan is where Ancient Israel emerged from. “palestine” and “palestinians” derive from the Canaanite and Hebrew root PLSH meaning INVADER. LMAO whoever made this blog is an idiot anti-Semite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL-F_MkDyDI

At the end its like you write a history for yourself anf refer to that history to proof your right. I believe in Egyptian history and documents more than any religious book. Other religions just copied Egyptians. The most interesting part is those who coppied Egyptians now claiming that those talented people destroyed by them in their false religious books. It is so funny. The Good lie is a big lie.

Historical Accuracy? Egyptians?? HA! You might as well call Egyptian Heiroglyphics the “National Enquirer” of its time!! Check Hittite history unearthed in early 20th Century concerning the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC) and you’ll find Ramesses II as a liar.
The only thing historically wrong about the Bible is your opinion…and THAT is all it is; “An Opinion”.
By association, the Good Doctor you promote appears to be a “Let’s conclude this, now we shall find the evidence to support it” kinda’ guy.
Zero Scholarly Application for your promotion of:
1) Half-Truths
2) Outright Lies
And
3) Innuendo.
Open your mind…or be forever supporting nonsense.

it’s IZZAT not ez- why can’t arabs/persiahn etcs realise that kasrah is i not e. Islam not eslam; Salih not saleh – muslim – not muslim [damma = ‘u’] insha’allah – not en. why the ignorance which is so deep? etc use the ‘e’ for the sound in ‘me’/’he’/’she’ etc

the settings of the OT depicts what everyone can see in Arabia especially the western area of it. the names, geographical places, camels, tents, deserts, etc….
Actually, nowadays Palestine has nothing to do with the extinct Israelites who were nothing but a tiny Arabian tribe which was taken with other tribes from Arabia to Babel.
the true israelites and the people of Judea disappeared from history.
what we have now is called the turcik Khazars who embraced a a set of beliefs called judaism.
see The thirteenth tribe refutes all the claims of Israelism.
go on dr. ashraf, well done.

Of course the early iron age myths are not nearly 1 to 1 with history. All people have mythologies (they are not “deceptions”, they are a justification people, all people tell themselves), such as there being a Palestine nation when there was really just a dissed backwater of the decaying Ottoman empire.

As the Bible progresses in pages, we intersect history more and more. Clearly there was a northern kingdom, I’ve sifted through their cities, found shards with early Hebrew marks, seen coins found of that era in that place. It is obvious to me, by the evidence too that the reason Israel came into existence was the collapse of the Bronze age due to prolonged drought. This caused waves of refugees and invasions (Sea people) of desperate people that collapsed trade (no more tin+copper, no more bronze for weapons and plows) and with it the collapse of the Ancient states with the exception of a weakened Egypt. In the 3 hundred year dark age that followed, nomadic people were left alone to set up states, nowhere near as powerful as the earlier states, but real states nevertheless. This event could never have happened when the Bronze age empires were strong, no more than some Indians could set up a new nation in America right now. But it could and did happen when the empires collapsed or were very weak. This is exactly how modern Israel was also born! The great former empires in tatters, a stateless people (Jews) set up a state in the embers of the collapse. They are a real and fairly strong state, but not at all a “power” in the world. Seems very much like ancient Israel in a way.

After this, forgetting the myths, there can be no doubt about ancient Israel as a place the Assyrians Greeks and later the Romans conquered. The Israelis developed a mythology with good parts (rule of law) and bad that came to dominate the mythos of all of civilization from the Iron age on through the industrial age today. It directly spawned Christianity and its form was copied in Islam.

Both those religions and Judaism are untrue (but not “fake”, thought of as true expressions of reality but are absolutely not true). So, here we stand. 3 great but untrue religions, sunsetting American empire, rise of AI, terrible injustice done to stateless people like the Kurds, like the Palestinians and the Jews too who end up with a state but not security.

I think we need a new, more rational age and to dump the old religions. They have become silly and very destructive (the literary, economic and scientific productivity under ever more fundamentalist Islam has been a crime, depriving the world of much progress). But, I think the battle will not end until the age of oil ends. No more funds to fund the war, settlement will happen. How to get rid of religion? It is already happening. No one educated believes crazy myths and vengeful gods anymore. What should replace it? Seeing our Universe as exactly the creative force we sought. Read Stuart Kauffman “Humanity in a Creative Universe”.

Many archaeologists , scientists and historicans support your idea , i remember now Keith W. Whitelam, Israel Finkelstein, Thomson, Douglas Reed, Shlomo Sand , Fadhil Alrubaiee and many others i dont remember now they all asserted that there is no single evidence of that myth story of Kingdom of Israel and some went further to say that Torah does not coincide with geography of Palestine (no harmonization). We should rewrite history depending on archeology ,meticulous records and
excavations and nothing else.﻿

Dr. Ezzat,
I was wondering what your thoughts were on the Hyksos peoples that lived for a time in Egypt, the Negev, I believe? They were a Semitic people and excavations at their city Tavaris showed evidence of a signet ring/seal bearing the name of Jakob ( The Exodus Decoded). What is your position on the influence of Sumerian/Babylonian creation myths on Hebrew literature? Finally, have you read the book Christmas in the Quran? I thought it’s hypothesis that composition occurred in Syria vs The Hijaz interesting.

Historically, the Hyksos had absolutely nothing to do with the Hebrews/Isrelites, so the signet you are referring to, which I’ve no knowledge of, could very well be (yet another) clever work of forgery. Of course the Hebrew book has unmistakably Babylonian and Sumerian mythological roots. As for Ibn Warraq’s book, I’m not in total agreement with his hypotheses.

With so many determined people to slander Israel, deny their existence, and deny their history. To deny the bible. It makes you wonder what the motivations are from all you people writing here. I mean with so much mistaken quotes from the bible and errors in comprehending the text, it makes you wonder what is the point of this?

Remember now Susan, all the analysis I gave you about trying to read the biblical story as actual history to the times of the Kings so 1000 years BC and following the ‘times of the Judges of Israel’?

The names of Adam and Eve and Noah and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Moses and Joshua until the times of David and Solomon are all descriptive of agencies as ‘Offices of the Melchizedek’ say and did NOT exist as individualised ‘souls’ or personalities.
This fact of the ‘cosmic ambassadorhood’ then becomes the characterisation of ‘cosmic human identity’ and as supported in the Dead Sea Scrolls and other older manuscripts, not constricted to the Hebrew and Christian religions, but found in all mythological creation accounts embedded in the planetary history of its ‘story telling’ and populance, able to record its cosmologies in the written word and styles.

The actual RECORDED Hebrew history begins with the Assyrian Invasions around 700 BC, followed by the Babylonian Captivities so 200 years later. It was at that time that the books of Isaiah and Ezekiel and Daniel were written and composed, carrying the hindsights of the Hyksos Invasion and Expulsion of the ‘Shepherd Kings’ of Egypt in its time from the 15th to its 18th dynasty (1650 BC – 1292 BC) in pharaoh Ahmose I, who expelled the Hyksos.

This historical ‘Exodus’ then became romantisized as a ‘Deliverance of the Children of Israel’ by the scribes in the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities; say from 721 BC (Assyrian kings Shalmaneser V and Sargon II) to the Edict of Cyrus the Persian-Chaldean King in 538 BC.

From that date onwards, the modern history of the ‘Nation Israel’ begins and is historically validated. Remember though, that the Name Jacob (the Supplanter) descriptive of the ‘Nation state and political Israel’ refers to a Man of the ‘Adam=Job=Moses=…’ ‘office’ as an ambassadorship for the ‘true God’ and NOT a political nation state or geographical location in the so called ‘Middle East’ region of the planet.
Jacob is RENAMED as ISRAEL (a prince with God), just as Abram and Sarai as the patriarchs and matriarchs of the ‘Starseed of Israel’ are renamed as Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament aka the Torah.

Two typos you might like to correct. Just above the video “Notice that Biridiya is addressing the king of Egypt as “my lord, my god and son” and not as “Pharaoh”. Should read “my lord, my god, my sun”.
Also “However, Prof. Ze’ev Herzog of the Archaeology Faculty at the University of Tel Aviv, asserts that there is no evidence in the archaeological record that Israel was never a powerful force, whether at the time of the Merneptah stele’s creation or at any other time during that general period.” Should be “…asserts that there is no evidence in the archaeological record that Israel was ever a powerful force,…”

The Merneptah Stele—also known as the Israel Stele or Victory Stele of Merneptah—is an inscription by the Ancient Egyptian king Merneptah (reign: 1213 to 1203 BC) discovered by Flinders Petrie in 1896 at Thebes, and now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.[1][2] The text is largely an account of Merneptah’s victory over the Libyans and their allies, but the last 3 of the 28 lines deal with a separate campaign in Canaan, then part of Egypt’s imperial possessions.
While alternative translations have been put forward, and confirmation bias has been observed in the conflicting interpretations of its meaning,[3] the majority of scholars translate a set of hieroglyphs on Line 27 as “Israel”. It represents the first documented instance of the name Israel in the historical record,[2] and the only mention in Ancient Egypt.[4] It is also one of only four known ancient inscriptions interpreted to mention the term “Israel”, the others being the Mesha Stele, the Tel Dan Stele, and the Kurkh Monolith.[5] As a result, some consider the stele to be Flinders Petrie’s most famous discovery,[6] an opinion with which Petrie himself concurred.[7]

Judging from your comment; it is obvious that you are lacking erudition when it comes to the (true) history of the ancient Near East. It comes as no surprise when I hear such comments by (Zionist) settlers who are completely alien to the region’s culture and ancient history.
First of all the ‘true’ Jerusalem is not in Palestine. Secondly the Demonic God you referred to as ‘Allah’ is nothing but what the ancient Hebrews called ‘Elohim’. Funny, eh?? You are filled to the core with ‘Hatred’ and bigotry … some research and learning will do you a world of good. If you want to strip yourself of the bitterness of ‘hatred’, then you should read my book (Egypt knew no Pharaohs nor Israelites)

I was born in the West under the Judeo-Christian religion, the story of Exodus lack of any verifiable evidence. Just looking at the map between Egypt and ancient Canaan 2 million people will cross the Sinai hand to hand, in a day not in 40 years. If Exodus story is false, the Judeo-Christian religion is too !

No sign of palestinian Arabs nor Muslims in ancient Canaan.
And in later times you muslims were PAGANS – following the demonic moon cult allah.
Your forefathers drank alcohol and bury the girls when they are still alive.
you worship to the idolatry AL Uzza, Al Lat and Al Mannat at the Kaaba (jahiliyya period).
You have no link what so ever to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was not mention in the Quran even once.
Jerusalem and Zion are mentioned in the bible hundred of times.

You cannot argue with…pathetic grasping creatures of ‘allah’
AND YES I am very familiar with Islam…..a ME studies center is
where I majored (undergrad) in ME history and then
I spent time living and working in Turkey (SW rural)
It is too bad America has not read the Qu’ran and Hadith as I did in preparation
for Turkey.. to do so puts one in touch with the evil that Islam represents
The oppression, violence and bloodshed all based on some belief it is
a basis for entry to Jannah…

Islam is based on Judaism which is based on a collection of stories which are quite interesting but often morally disturbing. The Palestinians have as much right to their land as the Israelis as they are possibly the descendants of the earliest people who have inhabited the area, there is quite strong genetic evidence to substantiate this theory. The modern Israeli is a product of thousands of years of assimilation between the original Jews of the diaspora and Europeans. The fact is the Palestinians deserve to be treated with dignity and humanity which for many decades they obviously have not been.

HERE IS RELEVANT EXCERPT FROM MY BOOK ‘BENEATH THE DUST OF TIME: A HISTORY OF THE NAMES OF PEOPLES AND PLACES’ (LONDON, 2009)’:

Between Mesopotamia and Egypt lies a vast region that likewise achieved a high
degree of development at an early stage in history, even though it did not produce
great and mighty empires such as those of the Egyptians and the Babylonians.
(. . . )
The people who inhabit that part of the world are traditionally said to be Semites,
related to, but different from, the so-called Hamitic denizens of Ancient Egypt and
the rest of North Africa. Today, however, linguists find the differences between
these two groups to be of little or no importance, so they prefer to lump them together
into one great “Afro-Asiatic” family of languages. Furthermore, there appears to be a
close genetic relatedness between the Hamitic North Africans and the Semitic
inhabitants of the Middle East, the Jews and Arabs. According to the Sahara
Hypothesis, all these peoples share an Urverwandschaft, an ancient and intimate
affinity, based on a common Saharan, Usko-Mediterranean origin, and all spoke (and
still speak) related Afro-Asiatic languages. It is possible, and even likely, that the
Semitic languages emerged as a kind of linguistic synthesis between the Usko-
Mediterranean languages of the Saharan immigrants and the tongues of the
anonymous people(s) who already inhabited the Middle East before the Saharans’
arrival. In this respect it must be kept in mind, first, that from the earliest of times the
so-called “Levantine Corridor” figured prominently in the migrations of homo
sapiens from Africa to the rest of the world, and second, that the existing populations
of the Middle East did not virtually disappear during the last Ice Age, as happened in
Europe, since that part of the world, in contrast to most of Europe, was not covered
by glaciers.33
In any case, the language of the Ancient Egyptians did not differ all that much
from the Semitic languages of the neighboring Middle East, such as Phoenician,
Hebrew, and Aramaic. But within the great Afro-Asiatic ethnic and linguistic family,
considerable differences arose in the course of the centuries, for example between
nomads and sedentary denizens of cities and oases, between the inhabitants of the
coast of the Mediterranean Sea and those of the interior, and also between the
devotees of polytheist religions and those who started to believe in one single deity.
(Monotheism apparently made its very first appearance with Pharaoh Akhenaton’s
reforms of the state cult in favor of the god Aton in the middle of the fourteenth
century BCE.) The region along the coast, for example, was called Canaan, and was
inhabited by the Canaanites, people whom the Greeks would later call “Phoenicians”.
The etymology of the term “Canaan” – kena’an in Hebrew and represented consonantally
as Kn’n in Phoenician – is complex. Its original core may well be the
Sumerian kan, meaning ‘west’ or ‘western lands’, which is exactly what Canaan was
to the denizens of the Sumerian heartland, Mesopotamia. But the name also
resembled the Akkadian kenu or kanu,which signified ‘true’ or ‘legitimate’, and it
was in this sense that the inhabitants adopted the name as an auto-ethonym, useful for
the purpose of distinguishing between themselves, the civilized rightful inhabitants of
the land, and the uncouth nomads who coveted their riches and probably occasionally
invaded their homeland. Over time, also, an association arose with palm trees, so that
the toponym Canaan acquired the connotation of ‘land of palm trees’ and the palm
tree became the symbol par excellence of the land.
The inhabitants of Canaan were predominantly craftsmen, merchants, and sailors
who were at home in seaports such as Byblos and Sidon, strung out along the coast of
the modern state of Lebanon. The Canaanites were polytheists, but ethnically and
linguistically they were closely related to the tribes of their own hinterland, known as
“Hebrews”. The latter, however, would long maintain a very different, predominantly
nomadic lifestyle. In any event, there was preciously little difference between the
Semitic languages of the Canaanites/Phoenicians and the Hebrews. “The early
Israelites,” write Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman (2005: 135) “were –
irony of ironies – themselves originally Canaanites!” The name of the Hebrews is
almost certainly a cognate of the Canaanite ethnonym Ibrim, which means ‘people on
the other side’, i.e., on the other side of the Lebanon Mountains and/or the Jordan
River. The Hebrews appear to have been the original nomadic inhabitants of the
interior of that part of the Middle East, a vast region stretching from the Jordan to the
Euphrates and the Tigris; according to the Bible, they were the descendants of the
Patriarch Abraham, a man from the Mesopotamian city of Ur, and of his son, Isaac.
(Abraham’s name contains the Usko-Mediterranean root aba, ‘father’, and the
meaning of the name Abraham is ‘high father’, ‘tribal ancestor’, in other words:
‘patriarch’.) In any event, in the course of the centuries the Hebrews became known
by that name even in Egypt, if indeed a reference to the Apiru or Habiru in sources
from the time of Pharaoh Akhenaton refers to them, as is commonly accepted.
The Hebrews, too, were originally polytheists, just like all other inhabitants of the
Middle East of yore. (And they also appear to have engaged in human sacrifices, as
is suggested by the Biblical story of Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac.) But
already in the time of the legendary patriarch from Ur, his son Isaac, and his
grandson Jacob, they developed a predilection for one single god in their pantheon,
namely Yahweh. According to the Bible, Israel – ‘he who has seen God [El]’34 – was
the name Jacob had received from Yahweh himself. Thus the Hebrews also became
known as the Israelites or “children of Israel,” at least those who chose to follow
Israel’s example in worshipping only Yahweh, because polytheism long retained the
loyalty of quite a few Hebrews, as the episode of the Golden Calf illustrates. In fact,
the cult of Yahweh initially did not amount to a genuine mono-theism; it can be more
accurately described as a monolatry (or henotheism), that is, a predilection for, and
the exclusive cult of, one single deity, something that did not preclude the belief in
other gods and goddesses.35 It was only after a sojourn in Egypt, where they may
have become acquainted with the ideas of Akhenaton, that the Hebrews, under the
charismatic leadership of Moses, embraced a strict monotheism, predicated not only
on the exclusive worship of one deity but also on the belief in the existence of only
one God.
According to the Bible, the Hebrews subsequently left the Pharaonic Empire in
order to settle permanently in the land of Canaan, or at least in a part of that land,
there to create a state of their own.36 A special identity was thus developed by the
descendants of Isaac and followers of Moses, an identity that henceforth differed
dramatically from that of their close relatives along the coast, the Canaanites.
Moses37 is supposed to have brought the Israelites from Egypt to the Canaanite
“land of milk and honey” during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II, i.e., in the thirteenth
century BCE. This coincided with the invasions of the so-called “Sea Peoples”, some
of whom settled permanently along the coasts of the eastern Mediterranean. The
Israelites, then, were certainly not the only migrants in the troubled times that the end
of the Bronze Age happened to be. At approximately the same time, the southern
part of the land of Canaan was invaded or infiltrated by the Philistines. Between the
two groups of newcomers a conflict soon arose, of which the Biblical story of Goliath
and David provides an echo. The Hebrews called the Philistines Pelishtim, which,
according to Semerano, signified the ‘lords’ (pelu, or belu, as in the name of the god
Baal, ‘god, the lord’) of the ‘city or cities’ (isitu or asitu). This Biblical episode
reflected a rather typical conflict for the ancient Middle East, one between nomads, in
this case the Israelites, and sedentary “city folks”.
If the Philistines were indeed newcomers, they appear to have been firmly
established in the southern Canaanite cities by the time they got into trouble with the
Israelites. After all, that area became known as Palestine, ‘land of the Philistines’.
The Greeks were familiar with this term in the time of Herodotus, in the fifth century
BCE. The modern Palestinians seem to be descendants not only of the Philistines
mentioned in the Bible, but also of the original Canaanites and of Hebrews –
Canaanites from the other side of the Jordan – who did not follow Isaac and Moses
on the path to monotheism. It is a major irony of history that the Palestinians are
closely related to the Israeli Jews, as is suggested in the Bible and as genetic tests
appear to demonstrate.38
According to the Bible, the Israelites founded a mighty kingdom in Canaan,
associated with the names of David and Solomon. The Egyptians would undoubtedly
have noticed the existence of such a state right on their doorstep, but their sources fail
to make any reference to it, which casts considerable doubt on the Biblical story.39 It
is certain, however, that in Canaan/Palestine a number of Hebrew states or statelets
did temporarily exist. One of them covered the area around Jerusalem and was called
Juda. In the Aramaic lingua franca of the Middle East, it was known as Jehud,
which, according to Semerano, meant ‘Yahweh is my joy’. Its inhabitants were
known as Jehudim, and thus appeared the term “Jew”. This ethnonym, a powerful
statement of monotheistic faith, was to eclipse “Israelite” and “Hebrew” after the
traumatic experience of the Babylonian Captivity. The term “Jew” thus began to
refer to all those who worshiped no God but Yahweh. In any event, Canaan/Palestine
remained a region with a heterogeneous population: with polytheists and monotheists;
with Canaanites, Philistines, and Israelites; with city folks, merchants, and
nomads; with languages such as Canaanite and its Semitic relatives, Hebrew and
Aramaic. The waters were muddied even more by the fact that the region of
Canaan/Palestine had no clear borders with the rest of what was called Syria, nor
with Egypt, Mesopotamia, or Arabia.
In Canaan/Palestine too, there existed a number of cities and sites that were
considered by at least some part of the population to be “the center of the world”, or
for some reason or another enjoyed the reputation of being sacred, as was the case
with Babylon and Memphis. Mount Tabor, for example, was generally considered to
be the ‘navel’ (tabbur) of the ‘world’ (haaretz); its full name happens to be tabbur
haaretz. Since the earliest times, Canaan not only featured a sacred mountain, but
also a sacred city. This city, presumably founded by the Canaanite clan of the
Jebusites, was originally known as Urusalim, an Akkadian construction meaning
‘roof’ (uru), in other words ‘temple’, of ‘friendship’ (salimu). This term developed
into Awsham and eventually – after the Hebrews conquered the city, possibly around
1,000 BCE – was displaced by its Hebrew cognate, Jerushalim. Jerusalem was
constructed on two hills and was therefore also known as Zion, a toponym in which –
as in Sinai, the name of a mountain with two peaks – the Akkadian sina and/or the
Hebrew snaim, ‘two’, can be recognized, at least according to Semerano.40

NOTES:
33 S Wells (2002: 98-99, opines that “modern humans” may have permanently settled in the Middle East “around 45,000 years ago”. See also http://dienekes.blogspot.com/2007/04/mtdnadispersal-via-horn-of-africa-vs.html.
34 The etymology of Israel is a matter of controversy. Semerano claims to recognize the Akkadian root isarum in this name, meaning ‘divine justice’, so that Israel would mean ‘God is just’. He also claims that Isaac derives from Akkadian issakkum, ‘territorial ruler’, while Jacob, descended from Akkadian aqabb, ‘to order’, would mean ‘I, Yahweh, have ordered this’.
35 See e.g. Leeming (2004: 91), Kirsch (2004: 28-30).
36 Some archaeologists and Bible experts now cast serious doubt on the Biblical story of the Exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan, see Finkelstein & Silberman (2005).
37 According to Semerano, the name “Moses” is related to the Babylonian massu, ‘guide’ or ‘leader’, a word whose Egyptian cognate may also be recognized in the names of Pharaohs such as Tutmosis and Ramses.
38 The Biblical reference to this relatedness is to be found in Griffith (2001: 85). For the genetic tests, see the study by Arnáiz-Villena, Gomez-Casado, & Martinez-Laso (2002).
39 According to Finkelstein & Silberman (2005: 159), “There is hardly any reason to doubt the historicity of David and Solomon. Yet there are plenty of reasons to question the extent and splendor of their realm”.
40 The Phoenician settlement of Tharros in Sardinia is located on a peninsula that prominently
features two hills and is called Sinis. Switzerland has an old town called Sion built on two
peaks. These both appear to provide support for Semerano’s interpretation of Zion and Sinai.

Muhamed had worms in his mouth before he died and right now consumed by them in the place he is now. Malik Al-Amlak is terurning soon and will utterly destroy islam to ferever be no more. And alah,(aka azazel), is sorelly afraid of Malik Al-Amlak. The true Believers on Him, are eagerly awaiting His return and death wont hold His followers and believers, even those killed by daesh, the demon army of alah-azazel, the fallen angel.

@Jandre Kroeze (and his worms)
I don’t know what /who is the source of this ‘disgusting’ worms’ information, that others (more civilized people) would call it hate speech. However I pretty certain that other (deluded) fanatics, still alive and not necessarily (only) Muslims, are pretty much infested with the same “devouring” worms that are ruthlessly lurking inside their (dogmatic) heads. Malik Al-Malik syndrome, I hope modern medicine will manage to come up with a remedy for this derangement.

Reblogged this on PAJU – Palestiniens et Juifs Unis and commented:
Many historians today agree that at best, the stay in Egypt and the exodus events occurred among a few families and that their private story/vague memory/ folk tale was expanded and ‘nationalized’ to fit the needs of theological ideology- very much similar to how modern-day Zionism has nationalized those remote and inconsistent Jewish tales to serve its political project in Palestine.

Having clarified that chapter of the history of the Egyptian empire in late Bronze Age during which it controlled all of Canaan and practically most of the Levant I think it is becoming less of a puzzle for us why Egypt hardly mentioned or referred to Israel in its records whereas the Israelites were raving about Egypt all the time. The answer, that will definitely shock many, is because the real land which witnessed the Israelite’s stories was never in ancient Palestine or Egypt. Egypt was never the land of the Israelites’ Exodus nor Palestine their Promised Land.

At the supposed time of Exodus there were three and a half million people in Egypt.
Any large number of people leaving would cause a large hole in the population and would have been recorded in Egyptian history.

While I do not believe in the strict interpretation of Biblical stories, it is a fallacy to say that a lack of evidence on the Egyptian side proves anything. The Egyptians had almost no actual historical records, outside of mercantile ones. They had preening propaganda (oft straight-out lies, like Ramses the Second’s accounts of his “victory” vs the Hittites at Kadesh, a battle he actually had to retreat from), statuary to contain their rulers’ Ka, and lineage records that were subject to sudden change/defacement the second someone fell out of favor. Egyptians were *NOTORIOUS* historical revisionists in the worst way. If something embarrassing to someone in power happened, it was not going to be writ large for all to see; thus, one should actually *expect* no records of the Hebrews in Egypt. A lack of proof is not disproof, especially where Egypt is involved. Far, FAR too many times, our take on Egyptian history had to be completely rewritten simply because someone, ages ago, had destroyed records of a MAJOR event and/or ruler, whether they did it out of malice, or simply because they just needed the stone of a mural to use it as pulverized fill in a new mastaba. Egyptians were *very* unreliable records-keepers, and almost never actual historians.

Moreover, the criticism of the 1:700 ratio as being relevant is also a fallacy. If someone of tiny import and near invisibility comments ad nauseum upon a highly prominent, famous figure, the greater party cannot be inherently expected to notice! Israel was a flea, compared to Egypt, and it is natural that they might go unobserved, being seen simply as one of many unimportant peoples, if seen at all. What might seem world-shaking to the Jews, could very well be a rural triviality to all others. The ratio is understandable, especially given the above-noted revisionist tendency in Egyptian records-keeping.

More, the Jews’ own tales paint a picture of a rather *reasonable* Egypt, and that it was their OWN God that turned Pharaoh against them! If the Jews had been trying to slander Egypt, this seems an odd choice. They also mention that the Egyptians’ stated reason for enslaving them was fear over the Hebrews joining the Egyptians’ enemies (one surmises the particular enemies might have been other Semitic groups). Such is a behavior pattern peoples are guilty of even to this day (even the Americans imprisoned their Japanese citizenry in World War II).

I suspect the Jews conflated several historical events in Exodus, but that they did escape from enslavement by Egyptians. It just might have been on a very minor scale, and they may have mixed other legends in with it. The proofs you offered are in no way conclusive; tho it has become popular to dismiss Exodus, it is likely more a reaction to prior generations of archaeologists being ham-fisted in insistence on a Biblical PoV. Taking an opposite stance is not inherently valid; there is such a thing as overcompensation. Unless actual COUNTER-evidence is found, and not just a lack of supporting evidence, nothing is dis-proven, as Ancient Egypt is simply too unreliable a narrator for actual proofs.

There are so many flaws in your nonsense, I don’t even know where to begin.

The bottom line is this, if you can’t explain the GOD of The Holy Truth, then why are you even commenting? No, don’t vomit up HIS Titles, but rather explain HIM.

‘mother goddess’, weak, effeminate ‘men’ like you want nothing for HIS Word to not be The Truth, but unfortunately for you, It Is, Was and Will Always Be. GOD’S People predate that of egypt and egypt was and is an example to this day – look at that wasteland that THE ONE TRUE GOD brought to nothing; it only holds on because it is propped up by prosperous nations. egypt was nothing more than a seed of cain tribe that enslaved other people, which no one has the right to do. If you’re not willing to do the work yourself, you have no right to force someone else and steal their time in The Garden of Eden (Paradise).

All slaver ‘civilizations’ are laid waste at some point as Men and WoMen of THEE ONE TRUE GOD of The Living Always wakes people up (spiritual/mental resurrection). The ishtarded, baal$hit game of money, which is nothing more than pieces of nothing paper ‘backed’ by shiny gold rocks, always is found out and always fails – HIS Truth tells the stories. Those weak, effeminates of those ishtarded, baal$hit beliefs and system always get their butts kicked when people wake up and turn back to HIM and HIS Ways, which leads to Eden (Paradise).

GOD of The Holy Truth goes back to Adam, The First Man, not any egyptian mess, etc. Again, unless you can explain THEE GOD of HIS HOLY WORD, then you shouldn’t even begin to comment; not only that, you really would be clueless as to explain how Jesus was HE in the flesh and how HE was THE LIVING WORD of TRUTH.

You really have no idea as to where you are, what life is about or what time it is in HIM do you? HIS People predate your egyptian mess and have been worshipping THE ONE TRUE GOD long before any other their slaver works were created. The giants~baalies~bullies~fellers~tyrants always steal and lie, especially when it comes to The Truth of HIStory.

No, flesh Israel wasn’t black either. The description of Sarah in The Dead Sea Scrolls make their race of origin quite clear, as does Jacob taking a wife of His race and is why His mother sent Him to her brother Laban, which means white in Hebrew, not to mention descriptions elsewhere of David, etc. The Circumcision now is of Sprit and not flesh, which is what one thinks, manifest in the works of their flesh. GOD brought forth all people and whether they choose Good or evil is dependent on their choices, not the color of their skin.

Racist people are beyond ignorant and/or stupid. All people come from the same Beginning. All bears do too. If a polar bear is taken to a more tropical climate, over time, it will develop black hair, a shorter snout and demonstrate the likeness of bears native to that region; the same will happen in reverse if taking a black bear to the arctic. Folks, stop feeding into those that wish to keep us divided so that we as a people won’t stand together and throw off the collars of enslavement that cause us to lose most of our lives working for other people and for what? If you sleep 8 hours, work 8-10 hours, not including getting ready for work, as well as travel time, then how much living do you really do? Who is raising your kids?

“People wrap themselves in their beliefs. And they do it in such a way that you can’t set them free. Not even the truth will set them free.” – Michael Specter. Enjoy the dogmatism of your Gabriel-inspired cocoon. But when the cocoon hatches you’ll come to realize, all be it too damn late, the true meaning of “Delusion”

I think the writing was ever going to Egypt Israel are Israel who want to own them stealing .All knowledge of the Bible story and different stolen from the mountains of Iraq for the benefit of the author ..asor deny that Egypt is a black kingdom ..sbh black man on the ground being representatives of the people of Israel these ..nam someone Replace names and became the victim.

The myth of Israel is responsible for millions of deaths,including WWII.Zionists in collusion with the Nazis eliminated the elderly,cripples,insane any Khazars(Ashkenazi Jew?) the Zionists deemed undesirable.Zionism & Nazis founded so called israel.Similar Race Laws of NUremberg now apply to Israel.Israeli citizens of Palestinian descent are subject to over 30 laws directed at them and they are under Israeli Army law virtually without any legal rights.Palestinian children are allowed only half the amount of water an Israeli child is allowed.As Europe and the world becomes tired of the Israel lies,the Israelis are setting the stage for their final demise

I agree with Neil that there seems to be a hidden agenda in this essay and some definite bias. Consider, in the mid 1990s the Tel Dan Stele, written by a Syrian King in he ninth century BC refers to both the house of David and names both king of Judah and of Israel, was unearthed. Also the Assyrian steels mention Israel and Judah, other independent sources which prove the existence of both kingdoms. Would one doubt the authenticity of the Romans who destroyed the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem and carried the spoils back to Rome to underwrite cost of building Coliseum?

The fact that Egypt only mentions Israel in one Steele only means that nothing else has been unearthed to date there. All other conclusions are a stretch to say the least and seems to me to be mixing current political bi with history.

The biblical story was written down in the late first temple period, say around 600 BC (it is only songs embedded within the text that are older, such as the “song of the sea” that passed down verbatim from before the Judean/Israelite kingdoms). So sure, they are likely to be exaggerated stories. A much more coherent story would be one in which the Israelite population grew out of the Canaanite population around 1200 BC (well, a bit before given the Merneptah stella from 1208BC). After all they spoke the same language, had similar pottery and and worshipped the same gods (counter to the biblical account, archeology teaches us that the late 11 century israelites worshiped several deities from the canaanite pantheon. El and his wife Ashera were the most prominent ones, it is only towards the end of the first temple period that israelite religion became monotheistic, archeology also teaches us that there was a king david, and by around 1000 BC there was a small kingdom with fortified forts around it).

However, I wouldn’t discount some influx that came from Egypt. Egypt didn’t have control over Canaan continuously, certainly not during the bronze age collapse that happened at that time, and which may have been the origin of the Hebrews, when all hell broke loose in the area.

Anyway, you write:
“While Egyptians were occupied with the task of weaving the fabric of a unique culture and building an empire, the Israelites were busy telling fables and fictitious stories that grew bigger all the time as they wandered around.”

It sounds as if you have something personal against the Israelites and probably against the Israelis today. And in order to feel good with yourself, you have to boast the importance of the ancient Egyptian culture. Sure, the ancient Egyptians had a magnificent culture. Unfortunately however, the Greeks diluted it out during the Ptolemy kingdom, and the Christians wiped that out, and to make sure, the Arabs wiped the Christians as well (well, tried to, there are still the Copts, but they aren’t having the best of time in Egypt.). So nothing of their culture really remained, except in museums. On the other hand, the very modest Israelite kingdom developed a modest egalitarian culture (without classes, even slaves caught in war had to be released after seven years), and its religion spawned both Christianity and Islam, and its moral values were the basis of western culture. So big and strong is not necessarily to be impressive.

As for telling fables, the funny thing is that although the Israelite account is probably exaggerated, the only mention of Israel by an Egyptian is definitely exaggerated. It says that “Israel is laid waste, left no seed”, it is obviously an exaggeration given that Israel is alive and kicking, as is Egypt, 3200 years after.

In Finkelstein’s book “Who Wrote the Bible”, he states that “J” document, which contained many of the pre-David myths, was created in the 10th century BC. Therefore, much earlier than 600BC. Also, not sure it was a “without class” society. Priests, Kings, and scribes certainly had more status than anyone else.

I was just thinking the same thing as I read thru the tirade of anti semitic biblical critique of history. Would a proud Egyptian Pharoah allow any mention of their embarrassing defeat
by a bunch of unarmed slaves ever be written down for posterity? What about
the Exodus archeological findings in Saudi Arabia? Historically, Egypt recognized
Canaan around 1500 BC, Jerichos walls fall down around 1550 BC(carbon dating) and by 1000 BC Israel is recognized where Canaan once was. All this shows the story could have happened as told, and there is no proof that it didn’t. ie. No record isn’t the same as a negative proof.
Just as in the Egyptian monuments, I find many of the Bible deniers commenting here to also appear to have political motives. Egypt currently is just as interested in
denying Israel as it would have been back in the Exodus.

First I want to complement you on your article as its makes for an interesting read. But I beg to differ for the reason that I wouldn’t depend or rely upon Egyptian History to know whether Israel existed or not in the ancient times. Because whoever studies Egyptian history about its Kings especially. The pattern we see is all the hieroglyphics, art and walls sings about the achievements of its Pharaohs and never its failures. The countless number of National geographic documentaries by Zahi Hawass has shown that there has always been Pharaohs who erased the previous names of the Pharaohs and put their names in its place so as to show the achievements as their own. So naturally I wouldn’t expect them to record the ten plagues they faced nor the red sea parting or the exodus.

We’re going to believe this on this guy’s say-so? Maybe he’s right, maybe not. Each should research arguments for and against, then come to a conclusion that is defensible. After that, see how it stands up against the opposing position.
WW2 wasn’t so long ago such that a plethora of records are easily available.

Christians are an AD lot..christianity was formed after jesus departure from earth by paul..ironically,christian belief isn’t the belief that jesus practiced nor preached..the love that christians have for jesus is only the so called salvation that paul endoctrined and not based on any of jesus ‘follow me’ philosophy

Bravo Professor Herzog, BRAVO! This article must be read by every student and child.
Knock the foundation asunder the entire structure collapses under the weight of its own lies.
The other two ‘revealed’ religions seem to have little footing to stand on.

…..So the Old Testament of the bible can now take its place alongside Alice in Wonderland, Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Gulliver’s Travels? I’m shocked I tell you SHOCKED! Now can we stop all this anti-Semitic genocide and give the Palestinian people back their land??
It is widely speculated that King Josiah WROTE the OT in about 750bc and claimed to have “found” it. Immediately thereafter he banned all other religions and pretended the Yahwehism was always the religion of those people. Yet another deception. Is there anything they don’t lie about?

It cannot be implied that the holocaust never happened because one did….just not exclusively to the Jews. The historical records of the American Red Cross confirmed this fact. The current historical record of the entire 20th century was fabricated to serve only this tribe’s agenda.

Dr. Ezzat’s brilliant essay is just one more piece to this gargantuan puzzle on the origin of Judaic history effectively dismantling their perceived exclusivity above all others.

The jews that wanted Jesus dead were not of The Israelite Tribe of Judah, just as HIS Word States.

Who wanted Jesus dead?????? The money-changers/bankers and those supporting their ishtarded, baal$hit, made up, fake system of rocks/metal being of value. The only person that gives paper or metal value is you. Because someone has a bunch of ‘money’, that somehow makes them better than someone else? That is beyond stupid. HIS Word clearly states that the ‘rich’ man is to be treated no different than the poor man because both are Temples of The ONE, TRUE GOD. Gee, now what people would have a problem with people not bowing to them and doing all their slave work for them?????? Exactly; the same people that are like egyptians – those of the thoughts and works of cain – slavers of Adam/Mankind.

When the world is shaken again and this lying system of ishtarded, baal$hit mammon~money fails, what good will pieces of paper with ‘mother goddess’ and baal symbols do to feed you? What will shiny gold rocks do to satisfy your temple? Do you think GOD is going to allow the lies and nonsense to go on much longer? People are turning to HIM more and more and as they do, HE will avenge HIS People, as HE Always Has, Is and Will.

Thanks, Dr. Ashraf Ezzat, for bringing this to our attention.
I’m interested in the influence of Persians, especially on Yehud and Old Testament, as well as on development of Christianity. Can you talk about the contact between Egypt and Persia?

I have to admit I’m not a big fan of Jewry. imo a great deal of cultural ‘plagiarism’ has gone on, and other people have been made to suffer. Of particular interest is the reaction of emancipated Jews in Europe in mid-1800s to archeological discoveries in Mesopotamia, Palestine, Egypt. Around this period, Jews in Israel, Germany, and England began to reframe the bible to make it more readily integrated into the prevailing Christian worldview; they put the hyphen into Judeo-Christian. see Alan Levenson, http://www.amazon.com/The-Making-Modern-Jewish-Bible/dp/1442205164/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333969246&sr=1-1
Today, Amy Jill Levine is prominent in a movement to completely ‘Jewishize’ the New Testament.

I apologize that my previous comment was garbled due to not being able to type as fast as I was thinking plus poor proofing.

I really appreciate the work you are doing as we are prisoners of ignorance… enslaved by those who use (abuse) history to control us.

I know I’m asking too much — or asking for speculation — but, can you offer any guesses as to how much and the types of historical record that was destroyed at the Great Library of Alexandria?

It is my understanding (correct me where I am wrong) that early Christians/Catholics had killed the remaining Egyptian Priests and sacked the library to burn the documents — was this done to destroy records that were detrimental to the church’s doctrines or an act of mass hysteria?

“It is my understanding (correct me where I am wrong) that early Christians/Catholics had killed the remaining Egyptian Priests and sacked the library to burn the documents — was this done to destroy records that were detrimental to the church’s doctrines or an act of mass hysteria?”

The history of Egypt itself is a great thing to read. most of the modern inventions have their base in Egypt. especially astronomy. the people there were great observers and and eventhough stiill the universe is a mystery the early recordings of the observations helped the current technology to depend on so many things. their command over geometry was great and most of the maths problems were solved my Egyptians.

Merenptah means “Beloved of Ptah”…aka Buddha. Ptah imagery at Saqqara (Sha karra) in the Hall of Kings, the Hall of Sokar (touregypt.net has an alternate pronuciation of Choiek/Shokar) shows Thutmose III (a “David” typecasting) making an offering to a seated Ptah, with Sokar and Amun standing behind him.

Can we all say it together? S(h)okar Amun Ptah. Shakamuni Buddha.

The entire story of the “Fall of Troy” actually relates to the succession battle of the many sons of Ramses II. (Ra Moses, “son of Ra/Rama”) Google : Is the Fall of Troy actually the invasion of the sea peoples” and be amazed. Ramses II is the biblical “Solomon” king…but far from the greatest or the first. He usurped the temples and stables of the Great “Solomon” king: Amenhotep III. And he wasn’t the first either…a Kassite king was…aka Kas-kas…aka Hyksos.

Priam? An Egyptian pharaoh. “Achilles”: the pharaoh Siptah….born with a deformed foot, easily found photos on internet. The “Teresh” mentioned are the Trojans….aka the Etruscans.

The Pelest you correctly identified as “Philistines” although Palestinians is better translation.

of course, the Stele is talking about Jezreel, not “Israel”…how do we know this? Because Jezreel is where what was stored???? SEEDS. What does it say? “The SEED of Jezreel is no more!”

Look, someone above mentioned Andis Kaulins. Go to Lexiline.com. Go to index. Click on “Ark of the Covenant”….guess where is was found? In Amenhotep III’s grandson’s tomb: Tut.

Solomon’s Treasure is the treasure found in Tut’s tomb. Hidden there by 5 Amun priests. Priests that were called “Cohen Gadols.” The Mishnayot tells the tale of it being hidden…..go read Andis Kaulins amazing deciphering of the truth behind the “Hebrew” history. Go to Wikipedia, look up Kassite Stele. See the “Houses”? See the Harp of “David” on one? Beneath an image of Venus? THAT is the image of Istar, who played a Harp.

Venus: Istar Devatta. Venus: the Star of David.

“David” had a sex change. And in the “House” next to “David’s”? Is a camel in a House. Under an image of the Sun (Sol) and Moon (Mon/Mun). In the OT, a certain “Zalumeneh and Zeba are murdered while riding a camel. That would be Solomon and Sheba.
Sol a moon. Solomon. Istar’s husband was the Storm god of the Hittites. His name? Tae Sheba.

She was literally the Queen of (Tae) Sheba. A king is recorded on stone tablet (Amarna letters) of sending a Statue of Istar to Amenhotep III to “heal him”…she was the goddess of fertilty.

In the OT…Solomon gets Sheba pregnant: SUCCESS! EGYPTIAN/BABYLONIAN/INDIAN ASTROLOGICAL MYTHS. The “Hebrews” are western Bramha worshipers from the Sarai River valley, known as the Puru kingdom. Hence, the “father of the Jews/Hebrews” was called Abram, then Abraham. A BRAHMA. Amenhotep III’s “vizier: Yuya was the OT’s Yoseph(Joseph)…and his brother was the great Puru Indian king named Dhritastera….Ashtera being another name of Istar.

The fools in mainstream archaeology call him “Tushratta.” HE was the GREAT KING…a PURU king…The pharaohs of the 18th dynasty had a “Golden Horus” name…”HePeru”…Hebrews. Purus.

The Book of Ester is the story of Istar worship supplanting the older goddess of eastern Hindu mythology. Check the name of the queen she replaced against the name of the Hindiu goddess: same name.

The image of the Mother Cow of Hindu is the image of the goddess Egyptian called Hathor….the Eye of Ra being the right eye of the Hindu mother cow: Rama.

Ridiculous. It was The Israelites warring with ‘mother goddess’ worshippers all through HIStory. They were slavers that wished to enslave others. You’re choosing to twist the name Solomon into something it’s not, as it’s not written like that, nor does it sound like that in Hebrew – nice try though. The correct pronunciation is shel-o-mo’ and his name means “peaceful”. His fall was taking in wives of foreign nations that worshipped the ‘mother goddess’ nonsense and he began building altars of sacrifice to pagan, stupid gods that don’t even exist, just as HIS Word States. If the pagan gods are ‘sooo powerful’, then why are they based on death, etc.?????? Me writing this is case and point that THE ONLY TRUE GOD and THE ONE of HIS HOLY WORD is ALL THERE IS, WAS or WILL EVER BE.

If you can’t explain GOD and The Holy Bible and what it all means, then who are you to comment? There was nothing copied from egyptian mess and in fact it was they, like other evil empires in HIStory that changed the truth of what happened after the fact, many times to cover up their own evils. Isn’t it convenient how the conquering enslaver is always the victim?????? ALL races have done evil, so I don’t want to hear how the ‘black’ man has been done so wrong, etc. – ALL PEOPLE HAVE SUFFERED and ALL RACES HAVE BEEN ENSLAVED AND ARE TODAY! You want to tell me the chinese are happy with how their abused? Americans are happy? How happy are you if you’re one of many that spends most of their waking hours making just enough mammon to pay bills. Do you like the enslavement? Do you like worshipping money and bowing down to people that print your pieces of paper that are ‘backed’ by shiny gold rocks and other pieces of metal?????? You wouldn’t like more Time in The Garden of Eden/Paradise with your loved ones and love interest?

When this system of evil fails and it will soon enough, what good will eating pieces of paper, rocks or metal do for The Temple of GOD? Have you been deceived?

Your response, “all races have been enslaved” is true, but, myopic. All races have endured different types of enslavement. There are levels to everything. I would challenge your myopic statement by factually stating, No enslavement compares to chattel slavery imposed upon the ORIGINAL man, the African. Chattel slavery has imposed severe revocations of religion, culture, language, history, education, destruction of the African nuclear family, and emasculation. So, in essence, all races have been enslaved,but all races does not share the same savagery imposed upon them. Each has it’s own story.

Professional historians are liars by definition. Otherwise, their regurgitations would not be published. The biblical narratives belong to mythology, are pure fiction.
Parasitic Jews, always in want of new prey, have produced many legends of their persecution. They excel in confusing the vocabulary. They howl “persecution”, when “prosecution” should be the correct term.
Let the mighty Egypt regain his power and liquidate this menace to mankind – Israel.

Yes I met an Egyptian musum at germany and it was the start of my search and finally I found most of things in abrahamian religions are copied from Egyptian book of death. Now I believe Egyptian religion more than any others cuz at least its original.

Amazing article, Dr. Ezzat. Thank you for taking the time to go through so much information. It is fascinating (and a bit scary) to think how easily illogical and fallible information can become fortified in the vast majority of the global population. Terrifying might be the better word. This kind of thing underlines the fact that history is manipulated and changed to fit the plans/desires of those who seek to control.

Thank you again for your information. Looking forward to reading more.

Susannah Heschel’s tract against the research of German schools that sought to pry the “human Jesus” from the Hebrew/Old Testament-origins matrix suggests to me that Jewish rage against Germans in 20th century had at least an element of fear of Jewry being discovered as a cultural theft/fraud. Castigating Germans/Nazis as “racist” for their claim of return to Aryan cultural roots is a mischaracterization of what was actually happening: Germans, or Hitler, anyway, did see the Aryan cultural traditions — especially as interpreted by Wagner — as superior to Jewish practices that were being imposed on Germany in Weimar.

Now you’re trying to rewrite history as well. Trying to describe the Nazi ideology of so-called “Aryan supremacy” as being based on something other than racism is sheer lunacy. The nazis’ own propaganda material made the case that they were biologically superior to other races (which is indeed racist). While the Hebrew stories might be mostly mythology, so is your attempt to present nazism as simply a form of “cultural pride” instead of a belief in white racial supremacy.

It is my impression that the writing of history, based essentially on what can be proven, is a fairly modern invention; probably not more than about four or five hundred years old. There are a few surprising examples of reliable written histories from much earlier times, but they stand out because they go against the general trend of propaganda and historiography. It makes sense to view the Bible as essentially myth – a tale of our inner landscape, rather than the outer, physical world in which we live.

Brilliant and amazing explanation of the history behind the “bible stories.”

The trouble is that most people believe a narrative outside of what they were taught by their respective religious indoctrinations is heresy; and so, will, under threat of perdition, reject such history no matter the evidence.

I can’t help but wonder how much of the missing historical record was lost when the library at Alexandria was burned.

An excellent book is THE WANDERING WHO by Gilad Aztmon. Now we face an insane war with Israel trying to bring the USA into WWIII. This biblical fantasy is certainly causing trouble for the Palestinians rotting in outdoor prisons like Gaza and camps everywhere.

Zahi Hawass underscored may years ago that the supposed Exodus was really the expulsion of the Hyksos and even Sigmund Freud wrote that the biblical story of the exodus did not make any real sense if studied rationally. And when you add in the Temple Pomegranate and Jehoash Tablet forgeries, you begin to see the entire Old Testament (and the religious foundation for the state of Israel) rests on a fantasy from thousands of years ago created by primitive tribal nomads trying to convince themselves that they mattered.

Sadly, I’m not well traveled. I did visit Iran, however, and while in a caravansarie on the edge of the salt desert under a grand blue sky, our guide explained how merchants from Venice to Timbuktu to Beijing gathered under the stars at night and shared the stories of their homes. “That is where the bible was written,” he said. Indeed. The bible is a collection of cultural ‘borrowings,’ shall we say. If Jesus existed at all, it is equally likely that he was Egyptian or Persian or Roman as that he was a Jew.

YOU ARE CORRECT MR RIVERO!!!, however there were hebrews that were allowed to live on the outskirts of ancient egypt and when the hyksos invaded the hebrews fought along side them instead of aiding the egyptians that allowed them to settle in their lands, Then it was Ahmose the 1st of the 18th dynasty that expelled the hyksos. After expelling the hyksos it was only natural their allies (who betrayed the egyptians) had to leave as well.

There was no parting of the red sea they WALKED into egypt and WALKED out. If you reference a map you can clearly see one can walk from egypt(africa) right into the so called middle east.